Rumor: Sony to reveal VR hardware at GDC

Sony will reveal its virtual reality headset at GDC next week, during its "Driving the Future of Innovation" panel, Edge reports, citing developers that have the hardware in-hand (or on-head). The panel takes place on Tuesday, March 18 at 5:45PM PT, and it features SCEA R&D Senior Director Richard Marks, SCEA R&D Senior Software Engineer Anton Mikhailov and SCE Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida. Marks and Mikhailov worked on the PlayStation Eye and Move controller.

The headset doesn't offer much software at the moment, but the developers expect to see a game or demo from one of Sony's first-party studios at GDC, the site reports.

Sony has been looking into virtual reality since 2011 at least (that's where the above image comes from), and last year rumors hinted that Sony was preparing imminent hardware announcements.

Oculus Rift has recently dominated the virtual reality gaming space, and the company is working with Valve to create better prototypes, such as the LED-laden Crystal Cove, and it's opening an office in Seattle, near Valve HQ. Oculus has ceased production on its current dev kit, after shipping more than 60,000 units. There's no word on a launch date for a consumer version.